A-Z of Lighting: Part 1

From the 4th-6th February, the International Year of Light Closing Ceremony is being held in Mexico.  It's been an amazing year, and so to celebrate, we've decided that over the month of February, we're going to bring you an A-Z of Lighting! Now, there are probably going to be some things we miss, so feel free to join in and post your suggestions over on our social media.

Without further ado, here's letters A-E:

A is for 

Amp Hours

Battery Storage is measured in amps, and the amp hours is how long the battery is supposed to last without recharging.  One amp is equivalent to one hour of use.

Accent

One of the three layers of lighting, Accent lighting is lighting which highlights, textures and shapes the general lighting around it, usually by bringing focus to certain details and objects in  the room.

Ambient

Another layer of lighting is Ambient, and this plays the role of daylight by giving a general blanket of light which you can layer onto.

Example of some Ambient Lighting

B is for 

Ballasts

Ballasts regulate the current going to a fluorescent lamp, which makes sure it has enough voltage to start but also doesn't overload while in use.

Osram High-Frequency Dimmable Ballast

C is for

Corn Lights

So called because of their resemblance to a corn-on-the-cob, this light can have 80 to 108 individual LED lights on them, depending on the size.  These can be used just like regular bulbs, from table lamps to wall scones.

Compact Fluorescents

These are essentially fluorescent tubes which shape has been folded so they are small enough to replace incandescent bulbs.  The name is often shortened to CFL's.

CRI

Colour Rendering Index or CRI is the measure of how well a light source reveals colour compared to an ideal or natural source.  This isn't the colour of the light source; that is the correlated colour temperature.

CCT

Correlated Colour Temperature or CCT is the colour of the light source.  This is measured in Kelvin (K).  Warmer, more yellow temperatures are lower K, such as 3500K, whereas cooler, more blue temperatures are higher, such as 6500K.

A Phillips Compact Fluorescent

D is for

Dimmers

True to it's name, this is a type of lighting control that lets you dim or brighten the light intensity.

An example of a simple dimmer switch

E is for

Edison

Although many people were involved in the invention of the lightbulb, the name most commonly associated is Thomas Edison, who patented the fist incandescent bulb in 1879, and set up the Edison Electric Light Company.

Electricity

The life source of the bulb which provides the current which flows through the lamp.

Thomas Edison with his famous incandescent bulb